From Haute Horlogerie to Haute Joaillerie (fine jewellery), the quality of the setting work is crucial in showcasing the splendour of precious stones. This highly specialised craft, performed within the bounds of strict predefined constraints, must be subtly executed to allow the brilliance of the stones to take centre stage. The radiance of precious stones is the result of the stone setter's painstaking craftsmanship. High Jewellery New watch models marry the technical performance of the manufacture movements, the sophisticated beauty of diamonds and the expertise of master watchmakers. I have selected some of the many Haute Joaillerie fine watches below for your attention. The Maisons like Van Cleef & Arpel, Dior, Bulgari, Graff, Patek Phillippe and Chopard watches showcase detailed Swiss made excellence with Italian mastered watchmaking process.
Van Cleef & Arpel
Van Cleef & Arpels have long been known for their exceptional transformable pieces, the watches, the most sought-after fashion accessories since 1930s. It has been part of Van Cleef & Arpels' heritage since its foundation. With each piece, Van Cleef & Arpels narrates a moment of grace, luck or happiness, inscribed in the Poetry of time. My personal favourites, the the Planétarium High Jewellery watch presents a luminous combination of materials. The cosmos has been the inspiration by Van Cleef & Arpels for the new high jewellery collection, titled Sous les Etoiles, which draws galaxies, curving comets and celestial figures in brilliant precious stones. The collection includes a High Jewelry version of the feminine Lady Arpels Planétarium model. Equipped with an automatic movement produced in Switzerland, this Planétarium High Jewellery watch is also remarkable for selecting and crafting its precious materials at the centre of a bracelet entirely set with blue sapphires and black spinels amplifies in intensity, bringing the mystery of the heavenly vault, thanks to an exclusive watch module developed in collaboration with independent watch maker, Christiaan van der Klaauw. The astral bodies, symbolized by diamonds, garnets and colored sapphires, punctuate the bracelet’s generous three-dimensional volume; meantime glittering lines depicted in relief seem to whirl towards the dial, creating an effect of rising movement. The whole watch, which required 1,370 hours of work, to bring an alliance of savoir-faire to life.
Sous les Etoiles, Planétarium High Jewellery watch
Dior
Drawing inspiration from couture and themes dear to Monsieur Dior, Dior Watchmaking combines creative daring, a sense of colour and rich materials with watchmaking expertise to bring precious timepieces to life. A true ode to femininity. Dior fires up the imagination with its flora-inspired shapes and colours! Marking 10 years of Dior Joaillerie’s stunning Le Bal des Roses collection, the House pays a homage to the Roses again! Dior Joaillerie is mad about roses, so I have seen a plenty of bold, bejewelled blooms, buds, petals and thorny stems at this Maison. Never one to be reserved in her creative expression, Victoire de Castellane has brought life to another dramatic yet glamorous collection for Dior High Jewellery, RoseDior! Here’s to take a look at Dior high jewellery secret timepiece inspired by rose, and featured hidden compartments and illusion details! Colourful, blooming roses are imagined as lavish ball gowns in Dior’s latest high jewellery collection, seducing every palate, from extravagant to elegant, the trend for secret watches was conspicuous, allowing women to double their pleasure by masquerading a useful timepiece in a not-so-secret gemstone setting to the full bloom.
Dior High Jewellery, RoseDior watches
Bulgari
In watchmaking, Bulgari has consistently delivered high jewellery over the years, who has expressed its Italian roots through its creations, making them unique in the market and the Italian House shows once again how well it has mastered watchmaking process. Bulgari’s The peacocks - Diva’s Dream! watches embody the glamour and panache of Italian Extravagance, brought to life in a full kaleidoscope of colour. In a collection, Bulgari embellishes its most iconic design, in brilliant gems; the Master of Coloured Gemstones, for which the brand is internationally renowned. This majestic bird loves to bask in admiration as it radiates seductive appeal and charms on lookers. But the bird also conveys a wealth of symbolic attributes – immortality, peace, renewal, pride and beauty! I find this bird so fascinating when it opens its shimmering plumage like a fan with blue-green tints! It’s also a very true, with its iridescent colours and an attitude of pride and poise sometimes seen as vain, the peacock could well be likened to a Diva. Bulgari has taken inspiration from the peacock’s beauty for the dial on a sophisticated watch for women - Diva’s Dream! Deploying creativity nurtured by this longstanding historical legacy, the Rome-based Maison now interprets this emblem while placing it in the centre of the Divas’ Dream dial of three new pieces by combining artistic crafts, jewellery and horological complications.
Bulgari’s The peacocks inspired - Diva’s Dream watches
The first version, enhanced by a night-time backdrop or a light-fitting setting, represents the night. It showcases the peacock majestically deploying its blue and bejewelled train of feathers and displaying a range of art forms on its graceful body. A representation of the day, the stately second piece reveals the full magnificence of the bird against a mother-of-pearl background, beneath diamond stars. Each of these slender and precious watches are adorned with diamonds, entirely in keeping with the jewellery creations. The third timepiece, the Peacock Tourbillon Lumière is set with peacock feathers in fan-shaped, diamond-crowned sections on the bridges of an openworked dial. The case is 18k rose gold, and the bezel and lugs are set with brilliant-cut diamonds. It contains the BVL 208 tourbillon movement.
Graff
Graff Hallucination watch is estimated to be the most valuable watch in the world. Speaking about the exceptionally valuable ladies' Hallucination watch, which is a sculptural masterpiece - a celebration of the miracle like a rocky road paved with 110.00 carats of rare coloured diamonds with a price tag of $55, taking jewellery watchmaking to an unparalleled new level. Fluttering by at unreachable heights, Graff’s multi-coloured Butterfly Watch is studded with diamond background, each butterfly on the dial and bracelet is composed of four pear-shape gemstones sculpted from violet, pink or blue sapphires.
Graff’s multi-coloured Butterfly Watch, Photos, Courtesy of Graff
Tags: HauteJoaillerie, HauteWatches, HighJewellery, Watches, Swisswatches, Italianmade
Author: Shohista Turan
